This is how the colonel and the lieutenant-colonel of a French regiment in Algeria were lionized.
The major of the regiment one day came across a lion suffering grievous pain from a thorn in his paw. Pitying the poor animal, the major extracted the thorn. Considering what he could do in return for the kindness, the grateful lion secured a copy of the army register, ran his eye over the list of officers in the gentle major’s regiment, and waylaid and devoured both the colonel and the lieutenant-colonel, so that his friend, the major, could be promoted.
